One of the star performers in the last ABCs was the women's lifestyle & fashion sector, which has been markedly affected by high-profile launches such as Glamour and InStyle ­ both well established US brands making their debuts over here. Glamour may be the smallest magazine in the sector in terms of size, but it has had a bigger impact on the market than any of its rivals since its launch in March. Not only did it go straight in as the top selling news trade title in the sector, with an ABC of 425,270, but it also took a bold new approach in terms of size and cover price. The launch had a direct affect on the market, with NatMags responding by dropping Company's cover price to £1.50 to match Glamour's after its ABC dropped 16% in the period of Glamour's launch (Jan-June 2001). NatMags' other title affected by the launch was, of course, Cosmopolitan, which found itself pushed into second place on the new stand after suffering a 2% drop in sales year on year. Nevertheless, Cosmo maintains its market leading position overall with an ABC of 452,176 ­ mirroring the US market where Glamour's sales of 2.1 million copies put it second only to Cosmo. Glamour's publisher Simon Kippin says that the size of Glamour ­ around two-thirds the size of its rivals ­ has much to do with its success. "People must remember that when the lifestyle and fashion sector was born, magazines were aimed at women who didn't have such hectic lives and had more time to sit and flick through magazines. That has changed and Glamour understands that. Its size helps it to fit into today's woman's lives ­ for example, they can read it on the Tube or carry it in their handbag," he says, adding that "the editorial also matches the convenience that women want in their lives today ­ if nobody liked the content it wouldn't matter what size it was." Kippin also credits the retail support the magazine received as central to its success: "Prior to the launch, we spoke to all the major retail outlets about our plans and had a wonderful response. We promised and delivered special units to go into the shelving in retail outlets and these were critical to the success of Glamour. With a small-sized magazine there was a risk of getting lost on the shelves but we turned that into a challenge. "At point of sale we mixed counter-top boxes with permanent units that slot into racks and are variable in terms of depth to suit the retailer." Signficant sums were also spent on above the line advertising as Glamour matched rival launch InStyle's £5m marketing budget. And Kippin says the marketing commitment for Glamour is ongoing, with television, outdoor and radio advertising part of the current mix. InStyle magazine from Time Life Entertainment launched the month before Glamour and achieved an overall circulation of 150,344 for its first five issues (independently audited), slightly exceeding the publisher's targets. And Time Life intends to sustain the high-profile advertising that surrounded InStyle's launch. Editor Dee Nolan says: "We have an ongoing multi-million pound advertising campaign using outdoor posters and radio. "In addition, InStyle is promoted across all categories of trade, from independent clubs sending out counter display units, posters and shelf-talkers, incentivising retailers financially with sales targets, to window displays and promotional displays at WHSmith. We have aimed for maximum visibility to raise awareness, and it's working." And retail activity is in place for 2002. "We are concentrating on buying extra facings, promotional slots and window displays to ensure visibility across all categories of trade and we are planning year round exclusives," says Nolan. While much attention has been given to Glamour's £1.50 cover price, Time Life makes no apology for InStyle's £2.70 cover price, with Nolan pointing out that the typical InStyle reader is an affluent 32 year old "earning considerably more than the readers of any other women's glossy magazine in the UK". Nolan also says her readers are "highly loyal" to the title ­ good news for retailers, who's margin is 67.5p an issue. Like Glamour, the premise behind InStyle is to make life easier for the busy, modern women. Nolan says: "InStyle's real point of difference is that it works like a personal shopper, selecting the best in designer and high street fashion and beauty to save the reader time and to make sure she makes the right shopping choices." Like most titles in the sector, IPC's Marie Claire was affected by the Glamour and InStyle launches. Aimed at ABC women between 18 and 34 years old, the title's news stand sales fell 11% year on year in the last audit. Publisher Margaret Leonard says: "Marie Claire was losing sales before either of these titles launched and our underlying sales have increased since." But she adds: "The market has expanded with the entry of these titles indicating just how healthy the glossy' arena is." Of the sale drop, Leonard says: "We believe that we weren't producing the very best that Marie Claire can be," but adds: "Our sales are firmly back on track,which will be revealed at the next round of ABCs." IPC has strong marketing in place to support Marie Claire, including covermounts, point of sale spend through MarketForce and cross-title advertising and promotions. Leonard says: "I think covermounts are beginning to show diminishing returns and the smarter publishers (like ourselves!) will include them in a broader mix of marketing' to achieve our sampling and sales objectives "One of our most successful promotions was to giveaway a special edition of Now magazine with the September issue of Marie Claire. "This promotion was a real success for both titles: we achieved a significantly increased sale by giving our readers a free celebrity magazine and Now sampled new readers outside their current base." Emap' titles in the sector seemed to be less affected than many by the launches. Although fashion title Elle showed a marginal decline on the news stand, strong performances were recorded by Red (up 5% year on year) and New Woman (up 9%). Emap's top title in this sector ­ the non-glossy Yours magazine ­ showed at 12% increase year on year, taking its news stand sales to 321,197. Another launch ­ H Bauer's Real ­ stood out by taking a fortnightly approach and although it did not release an ABC in the last audit, its news stand figure is expected to reflect its success in the next audit. While this year's launches have had much attention, Eve magazine claims to be the only surviving launch in the sector from last year. Indeed, BBC Worldwide's first foray into the market surprised many when it posted 102,857 on the news stand in its debut audit (Jan-June 2001). Aimed at ABC1 women between 30 and 40 years old, editorial director Gill Hudson says Eve has survived because of its broad remit. In addition to fashion and beauty it covers subjects such as politics, modern art and architecture. The title also has the weight of the BBC behind it, which Hudson says readers associate with quality and authority. {{CTN }}